9:26pm: The Jets are clinging to a 1-0 lead over the Roar at Hunter Stadium with 10 minutes and injury time remaining. The visitors have been frustrated throughout the second term with Besart Berisha having had the most recent chance on goal.

BIG BASH LEAGUE

9:21pm: The Heat are cruising towards a comfortable victory at Bellerive to be 1/135 chasing 151, with eight overs in hand.

According to Grandstand's Peter Newlinds, the Heat's dominance over the Hurricanes' bowling attack has been "carnage, it's ugly".

TENNIS

9:18pm: The third set is now on a knife's edge with Kevin Anderson having held serve to level at 2-2 after Bernard Tomic enjoyed multiple break points. You get the impression there is still some time yet before we crown a men's champion on Ken Rosewall Arena.

8:57pm: There's no time to celebrate though, so we're back to Sydney where Kevin Anderson has clinched the second set over Bernard Tomic 7-6 (7/2) in the tiebreak.

And it's at this point I'll hand over the reins to Luke Pentony for the home stretch. Thanks for joining us.

A-LEAGUE

8:54pm: GOAL TO THE JETS! Ryan Griffiths has put Newcastle on the board just minutes into the second half. Can Brisbane bounce back? Besart Berisha certainly looked like he believes so.

TENNIS

8:53pm: There's a battle royale going down at Ken Rosewall Arena with Kevin Anderson up 3-1 in the second set tiebreak. The South African has come steaming back after Bernard Tomic dominated much of the first set.

BIG BASH LEAGUE

8:50pm: The Hurricanes have made their first breakthrough in Brisbane's run chase, dismissing danger man Peter Forrest for 18 off 11 balls. He was caught by Jono Wells in the deep off the bowling of Doug Bollinger.The visitors are 1 for 39 after four overs.

A-LEAGUE

8:35pm: At half-time at Hunter Stadium the score are still locked at 0-0 between the Newcastle Jets and Brisbane Roar.

TENNIS

8:30pm: As Juan Martin del Potro did in his final against Lleyton Hewitt at Kooyong earlier today, Kevin Anderson is putting up a tough battle in the Sydney decider opposite Bernard Tomic.

The South African has drawn level at 3-3 in the second set after Tomic took the first 6-3.

BIG BASH LEAGUE

8:17pm: The Hurricanes picked it up in the dying overs, and have finished at a respectable 3 for 150. It didn't look like they'd get that far for awhile.

Jono Woods made 40 not out while Owais Shah finished unbeaten on 32. Dan Christian took 2 for 32 and James Hopes had 1 for 18.

Heat coach Darren Lehmann reckons the Bellerive pitch will quicken up in the second innings but, "until we bat...we don't know!".

And a little bit of comedic relief from Tasmania-based stats guru Ric Finlay:

@RicFinlay If Hurricanes bowl Heat out for 57 or less, Hurricanes move into third place. #haha

TENNIS

8:11pm: Bernard Tomic has taken out the first set with a comfortable 6-3 win over Kevin Anderson in Sydney. One more set for his maiden title win.

5:25pm: Karen has been talking to Australian hockey superstar Jamie Dwyer, who's one of the marquee names in the upstart Hockey India League. It's field hockey's equivalent of the Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament.

He said the financial benefits of the new league are definitely enticing.

"It's much better than what it has been previously.

"Hockey financially has been still for the last 15-20 years and Hockey India and the franchises have taken a bit of a gamble I guess and put a lot of money into it because they want the sport to grow.

"I think it's great for world hockey and for me personally and for Indian players and world players it's good to be financially rewarded."

4:51pm: In the Grandstand studio Karen Tighe has been chatting to Australian author Will Swanton, who toured around the world to all four of the major tournaments in 2012 - the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

He's got some great insights and behind-the-scenes anecdotes. Have a listen to their conversation below.

3:38pm: Back in Melbourne, del Potro won the eighth game of the second set to lock things up at 4-4. Hewitt looks frustrated and not quite as intense as he was in the first set when he all but had his foot on the Argentine's throat.

3:35pm: Russia's Elene Vesnina has won the Hobart International final over Germany's Mona Barthel 6-3, 6-4 on her sixth attempt at this event and seventh WTA final.

Her form has been solid all week and, as Peter Newlinds said courtside, the best player of the tournament has indeed won.

3:30pm: Del Potro is playing a lot better in this second set, breaking Hewitt's serve to bring the score to 4-3 in the Aussie's favour. He needs to hold serve here or Hewitt could run away with it.

3:20pm: After dropping eight games in a row, Juan Martin del Potro has finally taken one back after 40 minutes at the Kooyong Classic. It's 3-1 to Hewitt in the second set.

3:18pm: In the women's final at the Hobart International, Elena Vesnina has saved a break point but it's deuce at 3-3 in the second set against Germany's Mona Barthel. There have been two break points so far in the second set.

The Russian won the first set 6-3.

3:06pm: At the final of the Kooyong Classic in Melbourne, everyone's favourite Aussie battler Lleyton Hewitt is dominating Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, winning the first set 6-1.

GOLF

2:50pm: Moving to the fairways for a moment, a handful of Aussies have accepted invitations to play in this year's first major of the year, the US Masters.

Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Adam Scott and John Senden are the four from Down Under to tee off at Augusta National from April 11-14 in a field that organisers say already includes golfers from 21 nations.

2:34pm: On Sunday the two best teams in the Women's National Cricket League will face off for the title when the New South Wales Breakers and Queensland Fire face off at the SCG

Fire captain Jodie Fields - who also skippers the Southern Stars national squad - spoke to Debbie Spillane and said that while the domestic season culminates tomorrow, the action doesn't stop.

"It's been a pretty full-on year for the Australian women's team and also from a national perspective so after tomorrow's final we head home to Brisbane and all the other girls will head home.

"All the other girls who're playing in the WT20 final will prepare for that and then we'll all assemble next Monday in Melbourne ready for the Rose Bowl Twenty20 games and then fly out for the World Cup in India.

"The next six weeks are going to be pretty important for all the Australian players and I know everyone's looking forward to it."

Fields' counterpart Alex Blackwell also caught up with Deb ahead of the WNCL final, with her Breakers chasing their incredible eighth straight national title. That's a Queensland State of Origin-level domination right there.

Even more stunningly, it's the 17th consecutive decider New South Wales has qualified for in women's cricket.

Blackwell said the sport's governing body in the state deserves the credit for the women's team's success.

"They do see the importance of the women's game and encourage young girls to play cricket.

"We've got the strong club competition, I'm part of the University [of Sydney]'s club team and I enjoy playing my club cricket here in Sydney.

"I think we've worked hard, Cricket NSW has put a lot of time and effort in over many years and been consistently at the top when it comes to the national cricket league ... since it started really.

"So it's great to be a a part of that and as a captain I'd really like to take us to eight consecutive wins."

2:30pm: At the moment Peter Walsh is chatting to Martina Navratilova. The former world number one has plenty to say, but signs off with the hope for 2013 that she can "stay healthy". Good simple words to live by I think.

2:25pm: Greetings once again sports fans. Adrian Crawford here to take the reins.

TENNIS

2:15pm: With the news that Tomas Berdych has beaten Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-2 at the Kooyong Classic, I will hand you over to blogging guru Adrian Crawford, who will take you through our afternoon of tennis before the A-League and Big Bash get started later on. Cheers.

2:10pm: In Hobart, the women's singles final is about to get underway between Germany's Mona Barthel and Russia's Elena Vesnina. Barthel is the defending champion, while Vesnina is attempting to win the Hobart International for the first time at her sixth attempt. We'll keep you up to date, with the action, while in Melbourne, Lleyton Hewitt is waiting for Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych and flamboyant Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis to finish their match at the Kooyong Classic before starting his final against Juan Martin del Potro.

BASKETBALL

2:02pm: Some results from last night's WNBL and NBL. In the WNBL, Bendigo Spirit downed the Sydney Uni Flames 77-69, while in Adelaide the Lightning thumped the Canberra Capitals 98-67. In the NBL, the New Zealand Breakers came from behind to beat the Townsville Crocodiles 82-78 in Townsville. In the other match played, the Cairns Taipans defeated Wollongong 94-81.

1:48pm: Just to update - Ferrer has now closed out the match 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. Ferrer, who is currently ranked fifth in the world, has now won the Auckland tournament for the fourth time, following wins in 2007, 2011 and 2012. No question about whether he likes life on the North Island, then.

1:43pm: While the main games of the day have yet to get underway in Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney, across the Tasman there is another final in progress at the Auckland Open. Spain's David Ferrer has won the first set against Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber in a tie-break (7-5), and he is clearly a man in a hurry as he is up 4-1 in the second set and heading for victory.

CRICKET

1:38pm: Some news in following Australia's107-run win over Sri Lanka in the first one-day international last night, and it's more bad news on the injury front. Paceman Mitchell Starc has picked up a calf injury and is out of game two of the series in Adelaide tomorrow. However he will be reassessed for the third and fourth ODIs in Brisbane and Sydney on January 18 and 20. Another name for Australia's huge casualty list this summer.

1:24pm: We told you earlier about Lance Armstrong's upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey - well on radio today Debbie Spillane on National Grandstand is asking listeners and followers on Twitter and Facebook what question they would like asked to the disgraced former superstar. Here are some of the best early responses on Twitter:

@klioness So many! Do you feel remorse for those you bullied when they questioned you? Do you expect to go to jail?

@frankie_boy How about: HOW did you do it?

@snappy_don Sorry, but for me the question for Lance is "why don't you crawl back under a rock?". #sickofthelies

@dmorg78 Did Lance's wife or family know the truth?

Keep sending your questions in, and we will mention the best on the blog.

RACING

1:04pm: Switching to the sport of kings, today marks the big Magic Millions meeting at the Gold Coast, when the highlight is the $2 million Magic Millions Classic for two-year-olds. There has been drama already today, however, with the withdrawal of the pre-race favourite, Assail, after it was discovered to be suffering from a foot abscess.

The Clarry Conners-trained filly had been the best supported runner in Saturday's $2 million race at the Gold Coast with Clevadude now heading the market.

Conners told Sky Sports Radio the abscess was found on Saturday morning.

The Magic Millions is the richest race of the Australian summer and is restricted to graduates of the sales company.

12:53pm: Then of course we have Lance Armstrong, who has been a walking headline ever since he was stripped of his seven Tour De France titles and banned for life from cycling last year. His saga keeps dragging other figures into the drama - the latest being the head of a Swiss anti-doping laboratory, who has been forced to deny allegations that he helped Armstrong avoid detection for the banned drug EPO.

Martial Saugy, director of Switzerland's national doping analysis laboratory, said he had one meeting with Armstrong in 2002 at the request of the International Cycling Union to talk about testing but refuted the suggestion that he told him how to avoid detection.

"The answer to the question, is clear: no, I did not give the keys to Lance Armstrong (to avoid detection)," Saugy told a news conference.

"It would be a paradox as my job as leader of an anti-doping laboratory. The fight against doping is our life's work."

Of course, everyone is waiting for Armstrong's first television interview since he lost his titles. Naturally the "no-holds-barred" discussion will take place with a national news organisation ... actually, would you believe his interrogator will be none other than Oprah Winfrey? Watch out on January 18, Australian time, when the interview will be broadcast and streamed on the net.

12:38pm: Two of the biggest names in cycling have been in the headlines overnight for different reasons. First, we have Australia's own Cadel Evans, who hit a rough patch in 2012 after his historic win in the Tour De France the previous year, has insisted he can still compete at the highest level of professional cycling:

Evans, who managed only seventh on last year's Tour, believes he will still be a force to be reckoned with as the year unfolds with his BMC team.

"The leaders of the team, Philippe Gilbert, Thor Hushovd and me have had some health problems," said Evans as BMC unveiled its squad for the season.

"Philippe had a difficult spring. Thor's season was a nightmare and my summer was complicated. Happily, I have recovered.

"If I find my normal level by July, I know that I can again fight it out with the best and get on the podium of the world's greatest race."

12:16pm: Let's start things off with a look round some of the news from overnight, starting with cricket. In the second Test between South Africa and New Zealand at Port Elizabeth, the Proteas are in control after day one, moving to 4 for 325 at stumps.

The host nation were made to work for their runs against a determined New Zealand team on a slow pitch on which the batsmen seldom looked completely in control.

But an unbeaten century partnership between Hashim Amla (106 not out) and Faf du Plessis (69 not out), with some free scoring after tea, put South Africa well ahead.

"They bowled really well up front and asked a lot of questions," said AB de Villiers, who made 51 in one of three significant partnerships involving Amla.

"The ball was swinging nicely and we felt we were under a bit of pressure. But Hashim and Faf had a really good partnership and put us in a strong position."

South Africa are 1-0 up in the series after the first Test debacle for New Zealand when they were dismissed for 45 in their first dig.

12:00pm: Good afternoon sports fans and thanks for joining us for another instalment of Grandstand Live. I'm Andrew McGarry and I'll be taking you through a wrap-up of the overnight action in sport, before handing over to Adrian Crawford for a busy day ahead.

For you social media types, stay in touch with us via Facebook or Twitter. Throughout the day and the weekend we'll have polls and other interaction where your posts can feature in the blog.